Phone app provides warning of attacks

Friday

Jul 18, 2014 at 2:00 AM

WASHINGTON — Fifteen to 90 seconds before a rocket flies into Israel, nearly 600,000 people worldwide receive the same cell phone notification: "Rockets Attack," it reads, followed by the name of an Israeli city.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON — Fifteen to 90 seconds before a rocket flies into Israel, nearly 600,000 people worldwide receive the same cell phone notification: "Rockets Attack," it reads, followed by the name of an Israeli city.

Only seconds separate the phone ping from sirens that blare in Israel whenever a rocket is launched into the country. Those few seconds are an extra cushion for Israelis who sprint to a bomb shelter to take cover.

More than 550,000 Israelis have downloaded the Red Alert phone app, says its co-creator, Ari Sprung, an Android developer for an Israeli start-up who 12 years ago was a tank commander in Israel's army.

The app also has become popular among Israel supporters internationally, Sprung said. The app has been downloaded by 50,000 people outside Israel — most of them with relatives in Israel or supporters of Israel who want to follow events there in real time.

Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, director of Arab-Israeli programs at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, said the app's value in Israel is unchallenged.

"It definitely provides a peace of mind, and with that you can have a sense of control over the situation," she said. "You can't always hear the sirens."

It also can be an important tool to help build sympathy for Israel, she acknowledged, even if that wasn't the intent of its developers.

Sprung won't say from where he receives the information for the Red Alert notifications, but he acknowledged Israel's military has publicly supported the app.